Monday, May 28, 2012

Edwin Arnold Remembers the Mutiny: March 4, 1886

In March of 1886, Edwin Arnold was visiting India for the first time in many years. He had been the principal of the Government Sanskrit College at Poona (Pune) during 1856-61, then gone back to England to work at the Daily Telegraph. He became famous for a book of poems he published called The Light of Asia (1879), narrating the life of the Buddha.

Here he is giving an account of the history of Delhi in the Mutiny, with an emphasis on the locations where the fighting too place -- many of them eminently visitable spots for tourist visits nearly 30 years later.

It might be interesting to compare Edwin Arnold (who was passionate about Buddhism, but evidently quite patriotic and an unrepentant Imperilaist) to others we have been discussing, such as M.A. MacAuliffe (passionate about Sikhism), or Annie Besant (the famous theosophist).

Sister Blog - Project Space

This is a sister blog of sorts to my main blog, which you can find here. I am using this space as a kind of research chalk-board, not focusing especially much on readability or narrative completeness. You can also find me at Twitter @electrostani